Hometown Visit

I'm a little behind in my summer blogging, but that's life for ya. It has a funny way of taking over. So the weekend after we went on our annual campout with friends, the kids and headed to Bend for a hometown visit with my folks. We left on Friday morning and came back on Monday. DH had to work, so he didn't make it on this trip. Whenever I drive somewhere, I need to break up the monotony any road trip by stopping to enjoy the scenery. The kids and I checked out this one place with a staircase in the middle of the mountains. I can't remember what it's called, but it was really something to see.

Stairway to Heaven maybe?

We were just outside of Warm Springs, an hour or so from Bend, when some kind of accident happened. Traffic was backed up on both sides for quite a ways. I figured we were in for wait so I turned off the engine and we got out to stretch our legs. It's kinda funny how you get to know perfect strangers when you have odd situations in common. The nice couple behind us were headed to a nearby campground and were on the final leg of a long drive from Washington. We all got a kick out of this one man who kept walking up and down the road looking with his binoculars. After about 20-30 minutes, cars began to move. I was glad to get going again.

Waiting...

When we finally got there, we'd been in the car for much of the day, so the kids needed to get some of their energy out. My parents weren't quite off work yet, so we visited an old friend of mine who worked downtown. Then I took them to Drake Park. We go there every time we come to Bend so they can see the ducks. Afterwards, we met my Mom and Dad at Deschutes Brewery for dinner. It was a little loud there, but the food was oh so good!

K and her ducks

On Saturday morning, we had a pretty low key day. After a lazy morning around the house, my parents took us down to the river so that kids could play and go walking. Later that afternoon, my dad took care of the kids so that my mom and I could spend some time together. We went and could go see Eat, Pray, Love. It was a really inspiring movie. My mom and I enjoyed time together.

Helping Grandpa water the lawn


N and Grandpa

My parents

K always loves being a step ahead

K and Grandma, so much alike!

Sunday was so much fun! We headed up to Cultis Lake (nicknamed Coldest Lake), a family tradition for as long as I can remember. The water is shallow for a quite a ways in the swimming area we go to. It's chilly at first, but you warm up fairly quickly. I grew up going there and we always manage to get our favorite spot at this little cove, maybe because we usually get there first..haha. Anyhow, my parents brought their new kayak, so there was extra stuff to do. We got everything set up, floaties blown up, and then finally settled in for a lovely day at the lake. We went hiking, swimming, and took turns kayaking. Poor Grandpa's arms got quite the workout! He knows how to steer the kayak well, so he indulged us all and took us out on the water. When I was younger, we owned a yellow canoe and I remember many summers enjoying it. I'm glad my parents are getting back to what they love. They go paddling down the river or on the lake quite frequently on sunny days. One thing Cultis Lake is known for are the MANY dragonflies. A yellow one even landed on my hand as was using the oar out in the kayak. So pretty! Wish I'd had my camera at that moment.

Dad and I

N wading out

K's turn



K deciding if she wants to go in deeper

N's turn

Dragonfly

On one of the docks



K being a brave girl

N helping guide the kayak through shallow water

Another dragonfly

We left Monday morning and began the 3 1/2 hour drive home. Along the way and on whim, I decided to make pit stop (big surprise, eh?). We drove up to Mt. Hood to see the historic Timberline Lodge. This ski lodge was made famous by the movie, The Shining. The exterior was used as face of the Overlook Hotel. It had been years since I'd been there, so I wasn't sure what we'd find. If you can believe it, there were people skiing (in mid August!). There were also throngs of people hiking and sight seeing via the chairlift. We didn't have time to do any of that, so we just walked around a bit and took in the amazing views. I've never been inside or even had pleasure of skiing there. I hope we can come back either in the winter or summer again to do some of the more touristy things. It's strange when you don't think to indulge in some of local treasures, even when you've lived somewhere for so long.

How's that for a view?

Timberline Lodge

Mt. Hood

N and K



What a great weekend we had!

Campout With Friends 2010

We made it to our 3rd annual campout with some dear friends of ours. It's become a summer tradition that the kids really look forward to. The group consists of DH's best friend Troy and his three daughters; DH's other best friend Brian, his wife Rosalee, and their five children. For the last two years, our three families have gone to a secluded little campground near Mt. Hood called 8-Mile Loop. It's been a comfortable spot with hiking trails and a creek. The first year, we got a prime spot and had a wonderful time. Last year was DH's first year going and unfortunately he didn't enjoy himself too much. We didn't get as good of a spot and the bees were out in full force.


This year took on many changes. DH is not so much the outdoorsman, so it's been an adjustment for him. Over the year he has tried to adopt a new attitude about camping and many other outside activities, even taking up hunting and fishing...and listening to country music! I've been very proud of him for these efforts. I grew up in a very outgoing family where outdoor recreation and camping was a way of life. We drove everywhere and camped out many weekends in the summer. Whereas DH's family flew everywhere and stayed in hotels on tropical islands. Get the picture? Anyway, we decided to buy my parents' trailer for an amazing deal (thank you mom and dad!). Tenting it just doesn't work for DH, so the trailer has been a blessing in more ways than one. DH has a coworker with a large plot of land that his family uses for camping along the Nehalem River, in the Coastal Range. He allowed us to use it for free, so everyone was willing to give it a try.



All the guys had to work, so we got a late start on Friday. It was evening by the time we arrived and everyone got their stuff set up. After we got the fire started, we roasted hot dogs for dinner. The kids threw rocks in the river and explored the area a bit. By dark, we were ready for s'mores and oh how the kids loved that! DH was exhausted, so he turned in early. We got all the kids settled into bed for the night too. The four of us adults who were still awake enjoyed some great conversation and laughs that night...without any alcoholic beverages I might add! (although a strawberry margarita would've been nice)



The next morning, we took our time getting up and made breakfast burritos and hot cocoa...yummy! The older kids went exploring by the river, while the little ones found the dirtpile (of course!). Kevin's coworker who owned the property, Brian F., arrived to hang out. Rosalee and Brian's little boy really took a shine to him. As the day wore on, the sunshine was beaming down on us...making that river look very appealing.



So all the dads went wading with the kids. Eventually, they either fell in or got dragged into the water fully-clothed. Rosalee and I were quite snaphappy with our cameras. The guys rode the current down a ways before trying to claw their way back upstream, not an easy task. The kids took turns sitting with their respective daddies in the water and had so much fun. K struggled with her fear of stepping on a crawdad before finally relaxing long enough to enjoy herself. I took her hand and waded with her to help ease her fears.



After enjoying sandwiches and chips for lunch, the guys took the kids for a walk to put the crawdad trap in the river and do a little fishing. Rosalee and I stayed back for some quiet time. She put her baby down for a nap while the others were away. The dogs really had a good time chasing sticks into the river. Our dogs both braved the water for the first time.



By Saturday evening, the kids were getting worn out, so we got dinner going. This meal is perhaps the best part of the whole campout. Troy taught us how to make hobo stew, and now it is tradition that we make it every year. Hobo stew is so easy to make if you do a little prep ahead of time. You mix hamburger, sliced carrots, celery, and potatoes all together. Season it with plenty of garlic salt and ground black pepper. Feel free to add other vegies and spices as you please. Wrap it up in aluminum foil and put on the grill for about 30-45 minutes (or until ready). So good! More s'mores and even a ghost story courtesy of Brian F. rounded out the evening.



On Sunday morning, we kept breakfast simple with doughnuts. Everyone began to tear down the campsite and pack up the cars. Then the guys took a few of the kids to go get the crawdad trap and brought back quite a haul. DH boiled them in trailer and everyone nibbled them for an afternoon snack. The only disturbing part of this was when the kids created finger puppets out of the crawdad heads. Alrighty then. The kids really seemed to have a wonderful time overall and I was grateful to have such good friends. Camping can be a lot of work, but the memories are so worth it!

Acting goofy

Man vs. Fire

Bushwacking


Waiting to roast marshmallows



Keely going into a river for the first time EVER

Brave girl

Sticks were the toy of choice

Playing in the river

N with his best buddy

Campsite view from the bridge

Look at my dirty hands Mommy!

Hanging around the campfire

Yes, that is a crawdad on his finger.

Crawdads galore

All the kids in birth order

Our trailer

These two will always find the dirt

I'm king of the world!

Quiet moment for K

Checking out the Nehalem

Under Construction...

Whew! We had such a late start to our summer that we thought it would never get here. Well, the sunshine has been out in full force with near record temps on mandy days throughout August. The construction of our townhome community continues. Our own complex is finally underway and oh what fun it is... I'm sorry, but after dealing with our neighbors' construction for the last two months already, it's almost anti-climactic at this point. Since this is my blog, I'm gonna vent for a moment so bear with me.



The workers don't really bother me so much as all the logistics that comes with living in a construction zone. The workers are actually quite nice. It's just that there is hardly any parking available for our own due to all the crews comings and goings and we're not supposed to park on our driveways due to the constract debris. You can imagine the fun of trying to get a space when the extra crews come in for the specialty jobs such as demo or delivery of supplies.


And speaking of debris, don't get me started on that. At first, the crews seemed to be really on top of the cleanup at the end of each day. However, I think some of the workers are getting a little lackadaisical about it. My neighbors and I that have little children and/or pets are particularly concerned when we find lots of nails and splinters of wood laying on the ground everywhere. They remind us that the neighborhood is their construction zone during working hours and be cognizant of that fact, but their powers that be need to remember that this zone is also where we call home.


Need I even mention the toll this has all taken on our lawns? I should mention that while many of the townhomes have their own private lawns, we share our yard with two other homeowners. This sounds like a drawback, but it actually gives us all a lot more play space for the kids than the other townhomes since none of us are greedy about our property lines. We've been lucky to have awesome neighbors who share in the caretaking duties. One is a single woman who has two indoor cats and is gone quite a bit. The other is a professional couple, whose young son attends the same childcare that my kids do. Their little boy LOVES LOVES LOVES to play with our daughter. They often play in the sprinkler of little pool together.


In early June, we still had our lovely greenspace for the kids. Even though we had to wait until after 5pm or the weekends in order for the children to play outside, we could still manage. Now we can't even do that since our greenspace has become one of their work hubs. They store lots of supplies, wood piles, large disposable bins, and even workspaces for window frame assembly on our lawn. The grass has turned into a yellowspace and been trampled to death. Our landscapers assure us they can bring it back to life when all the construction is done. Thankfully, we have a park across the street to give the kids an outlet.


While all of those elements can drive anyone batty, what has really kept me on edge has been this feeling of living in limbo. I spent over a month getting the house organized and cleaned in preparation of the construction. It's certainly not perfect, but I'm proud of what I was able to do without losing my mind. As anyone with a family of little ones can attest, it can be a challenge to keep your house clutter-free all the time. Our exterior is stripped bear and we finally got the notice on our door telling us that it's our turn for the windows! So DH and I had to take down all the blinds and make sure there was a workspace area of four feet around the windows. The workers will come inside (that stresses me out!) and replace our windows over the course of 2 days. So by week's end we'll be on the downhill side of this journey... *knock on wood*


I've been trying to get the kids out of the house as much as possible, but mostly just going to other parks and whatever free activities I can find. As many others are, we are living on a tight budget this summer so we save what we can for weekend outings. The kids had swimming lessons for 5 weeks, K had a tumbling/trampoline class, and N is in the wrapping of up a clay sculpture class.


It probably doesn't sound like it, but I've been actually handling my anxiety surprisingly well. My neighbors are in this with us, so we're certainly not alone in our misery. I'm not one for chaos or lots of change all at once, so I've tried to take it all in in baby steps. The end result will be for the better and so I try to focus on that. Here are a few photo updates...

And the fun begins...

Our porch railing

Our porch now

Demolition day

View of my neighbor's home from my upstairs window.